Astragalus membranaceus, known as “huang qi” in Chinese, is a collective name of plant and Chinese medicinal material. The plant of Astragalus membranaceus mainly grows in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Gansu, and Heilongjiang provinces of China, etc., and has been listed in the national third-class protected plant category in China. As Chinese medicinal material, Astragalus membranaceus is the root portion of Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. or Astragalus membranaceus var. Mongholicus (Bge.) Hsiao of the herbaceous Fabaceae family, belonging to the famous bulk medicinal materials in China. In ancient China, Astragalus membranaceus was termed “Sacred medicine with the effects of tonifying Qi and consolidating exterior”. So far Astragalus membranaceus has been used as a herbal medicine for more than two thousand years, having the effects of tonifying Qi and consolidating exterior, inducing diuresis to alleviate edema, expelling toxins and draining pus, promoting granulation, improving the body immunologic function, protecting liver, increasing secretion of urine, anti-aging, anti-stress, lowering blood pressure, and relatively broad-spectrum antibiosis.
Astragalus membranaceus, being sweet in taste and slightly warm in property, acts on the channels of liver, spleen, lung and kidney. Its major pharmaceutical effects include benefiting Qi and consolidating exterior, arresting sweating for relieving desertion, expelling pus of sores and promoting granulation, and inducing diuresis to remove edema. Based on the five-elements theory of traditional Chinese medicine, spring corresponds to the liver, as a result, nourishing the liver-Qi is crucial to the health preservation in spring. As an excellent tonic, Astragalus membranaceus plays a certain role of tonifying Qi in the spring season of growth and development. The gruel or soup cooked with Astragalus membranaceus has the pharmaceutical effects of benefiting blood and tonifying Qi.
Astragalus membranaceus has been artificially cultivated in China since the early 1970s, especially after the 1980s, the cultivation amount of it in China has been increasing year by year. However, up to now research on the cultivated Astragalus membranaceus has absolutely focused on the root portion that is used as Chinese medicinal material, and the research on other parts of Astragalus membranaceus, especially other relevant parts of production chain, has remained almost a blank. The current research situation will limit the comprehensive utilization of the plant Astragalus membranaceus to some extent, especially the development of industrial chain of Astragalus membranaceus cultivation. Accordingly, how to better exploit other products with beneficial value in the industrial chain of Astragalus membranaceus has become a core topic of Astragalus membranaceus and even in the field of Chinese medicinal material, which has received full attention, leading to extensive research.
Oil is considered to be the highest calorie nutrient substance in the human diet, and the oil content needs to be ensured in the process of human dietary intake. However, with the socioeconomic development and the continuous improvement of people's living standard, oil and oilseed resources' contradictions in short supply have become increasingly prominent within the country. In the meantime, people now pay more attention to nutritional and health care functions of cooking oil. As a result, active development of new cooking oil resources is of great significance, especially for nutritional and health care cooking oil with special effects on human health, with special components of fatty acids, or containing special physiologically active substances.